Stabilizers mounted on the tiller or rudder are used to hold small boats on course without constant attendance by the helmsman. Such devices are particularly needed in boats sailed by a single person.
Stabilizers are known in the art. An example is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 1,401,290 issued to C. W. A. Taylor titled "Rudder Brake". In the device taught, a line passes around a drum or sleeve and is attached to the sides of the boat. The rotation of the drum or sleeve is limited by a friction-based device. The described stabilizer, because of its complexity and resulting higher expense, finds little use on small boats.
A simply constructed stabilizer is needed which can be used on the smallest row boats and sail boats, e.g., the sun fish, sail fish or snipe class boats, as well as larger boats. Such stabilizers need to be relatively inexpensive and simple for assembly, operation and repair. The device of this invention can be made quite simply for the smallest boats or in more complex forms for larger boats.